


Night Vision

by Corvid_Knight



Series: Demonstuck [37]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Demonstuck, F/M, Fluff, even sapient weapons can be afraid of the dark, this series is fluff deficient
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 16:40:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16814470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvid_Knight/pseuds/Corvid_Knight
Summary: Davepeta discovers, on their first real night that they're not in a lab, that "night" is kind of really fuckin' scary. Luckily D's pretty easy to wake up.





	Night Vision

On the one hand, being woken up is kind of a good thing; you're in the middle of a weird stress dream about Dave and Dirk being kids again, losing them in a crowd (at a fuckin' amusement park, of all places?) and having both your bro and Grey stare at you blankly in response to your understandable reaction of completely panicking. (You kind of suspect that the next turn that the dream woulda taken is that of the two of them being hollow shells, rather than actual people. Your nightmares can be kind of predictable.) 

But yeah, someone starts poke-patting your face before you can get to the really good shit, anything that actually counts as a nightmare. It's gentle lil' touches at first, then still-gentle prods, then less gentle pokes with a hint of sharp claws. Not enough to be painful, just mildly concerning.

"Wha—fuck? Fuck." You guess you should open your eyes, huh? 

...aaaand it's not Jr or Seb. That's who you really expected, if your brain was awake enough to expect anything; they still come to you and Grey with nightmares sometimes. Wait, no, of course they wouldn't tonight; as soon as Grey brought them back, Hal announced that he was temporarily taking over the living room to make a blanket nest large enough for everyone who needed extra company after the last week. Which was, y'know, everyone, pretty much. Other than you, you wanted some time alone with Grey, and Davepeta was excited enough about having their own room to turn down Davesprite's offer of a place in the cuddle pile, but everyone else. 

Obviously, something about that room ain't quite to Davepeta's liking, though, because here they are poking at your face in the not-quite-complete darkness. (Look, you have issues with being able to navigate in the dark, okay? The lil' nightlight hooked into the outlet by the door keeps you from running into the wall and waking Grey every other night.) 

Even in the dim light you can see that the kid's more subdued than you've seen them, wings folded tight behind their back and ears flattened down so far that they almost disappear into their curly hair. 

"Aw...shit." You remember to keep your voice low, and you're careful to not yank the blanket off Grey as you pull out of his arms and sit on the edge of the bed to rub your eyes and try to wake up enough that you'll be able to remember how to ask Davepeta what's wrong. "Bad dreams, kiddo?" 

They shake their head, chirping and hopping up to sit by you when you pat the patch of bed immediately beside yourself. "No dreams. I dunno if I can dream? I haven't yet, but I only slept when I passed out, so..." 

Their little shrug feels strange under the arm you've wrapped around their shoulders; maybe it's 'cause it's only their wings that move, lifting slightly and then folding again. The weirdness distracts you from responding to what they just said for a second, but you do get back on track. 

"Ah. So you can't sleep?" 

Another chirp, this one with the edge of what might be an unhappy _mrow_ in it. "I—it's so dark, okay? Like, lights are supposed to be out, I get that, but you don't—it's _dark_." 

Oh. Okay. You kind of never actually had this problem with any of your kids before; Dave and Dirk had other things to fear as kids, and you don't think this phobia's even occurred to the younger ones at all. 

"You scared of the dark, kiddo?" 

"No!" No doubt about it this time; they meow as they butt their head against your chest, huffing as you reach over with your free hand to start petting their hair. Takes a good half-minute of that before they keep talking. "...it's never been dark before." 

"No?" 

"In the lab. Fuckin'—they didn't do nights, not for me. Maybe if I hadn't broke out, they woulda turned the lights off, eventually, but it was so fuckin' bright, D...it was bright when I left, too, outside, and I came _here_ before dark." Davepeta tilts their head too look up at you, and you see the greenish glint of their widened pupils reflecting the faint glow of the nightlight. "I'm not—I can see, it's just—" 

"Davepeta." 

"Yeah?" 

"You know it's okay to be scared of the dark, right? You're just a kid, you can be scared of shit—hell, _I'm_ still scared of snakes and I ain't exactly a kid anymore, y'know?" 

They blink at you, tilting their head the opposite direction they were tilting it before. "Snakes?" 

"Snakes. John put a fake one in the cabinet one time and I screamed like a girl." 

"D, snakes are _awesome._ " 

"I mean, if you like 'em—" 

"They're tasty! No fur to get off, the bones don't stab you like fishes—" 

"Oh my god." Alright, that's nowhere near where you expected them to go with that. "Okay, kid, your job is to eat any snakes that come near me. Just don't, like, get poisoned." 

"I can't get poisoned. That's why they picked Davesprite; poisons and venoms don't affect cockatrices." 

"Shit, okay, that's cool...yo babe, scoot over." You give Davepeta's head one last pat, then lean over to poke at Grey instead, consciously mimicking Davepeta's tactics in getting you up. 

And hey, it works on him too; after a couple seconds Grey groans, his hand coming up to grab your wrist before you can withdraw. (Why the hell is everyone in this house faster than you.) For a moment he just lays there, eyes still closed, not letting you go. 

Then he does open his eyes, and Davepeta croons deep in their throat at the sight of luminous ruby facets. "Mmnn...why am I scooting...?" 

" 'cause Davepeta's sleeping in here tonight, unless you wanna be the one to find them a nightlight for their room. _I_ sure ain't doing it." Grey hums when you try to pull your hand out of his grip, pulling back until you lean down and give him the kiss he's angling for, quick and soft on the corner of his mouth. He growls at you when you pull back, and you just roll your eyes at him. "Hey. C'mon." 

"I am, I am...Davepeta?" 

When Grey shifts back and opens his arms, the kid barely even hesitates. You think that most of the hesitation that _is_ present is because they have to look at you, make sure that the invitation is really directed at them before they take it. 

Once that's satisfactorily sorted, they pounce onto Grey's chest, curling up in the half-circle of his arms and starting to purr as you settle back down to complete it. They're cuddled so close to him that it's easy for you to throw an arm over both of them, pull yourself back in where you belong. 

Grey chuckles, after a moment. "D." 

"Mhm?" 

"They're already asleep." 

"Good for them...now shoosh, babe. I love you, but I'm still tired as hell...you can be impressed with the kid in the morning." 

"Of course. Sleep well, beloved."


End file.
